Japan's Seven & i Set to Unveil a New CEO and Restructuring Plan Today

Seven & i Holdings, the Japanese operator of the global 7-Eleven convenience store chain, is expected to announce a leadership change on Thursday and plans to restructure its business as it prepares for a $47 billion foreign takeover.

According to sources, Seven & i's lead outside director Stephen Dacus will most likely succeed Ryuichi Isaka as CEO, putting a foreign-born executive in charge of the Japanese retail conglomerate for the first time.

Seven & i, which operates over 80,000 7-Eleven stores in 20 countries and regions, will hold a board meeting and then announce the leadership change, as well as plans to sell non-core assets to Bain Capital, according to sources.

For years, the company has faced investor criticism over its capital allocation. In August, it received a buyout offer from Circle-K operator Alimentation Couche-Tard, which was eventually raised to $47 billion, a 35% premium to its current market capitalisation.

That sparked a three-way tug-of-war between Canada's Couche-Tard, a buyout bid from Seven & I's founding Ito family, and company management, which believed they could chart their own course to recovery.

Dacus, who previously worked for Walmart and Fast Retailing, also chaired a special committee that evaluated the takeover bids. The Ito family group failed to secure a reported $58 billion in funding for their offer, leading to the deal's cancellation late last month.

The Nikkei reported on Monday that Dacus will be replaced as head of the special committee by another outside director, Paul Yonamine.

Seven & I shares fell on Tuesday following reports that the company intended to reject the Couche-Tard offer, despite the Japanese company's statement that it was still considering the bid.

Seven & I is expected to sell the majority of its non-core business to Bain Capital for more than 700 billion yen ($4.7 billion), Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter.

Isaka has worked for 7-Eleven since 1980, rising to the position of president in 2016. However, his reign has been criticised by foreign investors, including ValueAct Capital, which attempted to remove him in 2023 for pursuing a flawed strategy.

Recently, US-based Artisan Partners urged the company to consider a competitive bidding process for takeover bids.

In October, Isaka unveiled an independent turnaround plan, aiming to nearly double sales to 30 trillion yen by 2030 by expanding internationally and focusing on fresh-food offerings.

If Couche-Tard succeeds in acquiring control of Seven & I, it will be the largest foreign takeover of a Japanese company.

In September, Seven & i was designated as "core" to Japan's national security, despite the fact that the finance ministry stated at the time that it would not impose conditions on a takeover.